Well, I hate to rain on the parade...You might get a "rush" with the bong, but it doesn't get you higher...In fact, studies have shown that bongs and vaporizers both do worse than joints in THC transfer, as well as health benefits (filtering out tars, etc.)...

Contrary to popular impression, waterpipes don't necessarily protect smokers from harmful tars in marijuana smoke, according to a new study sponsored by MAPS and California NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). The reason is that waterpipes filter out more psychoactive THC than they do other tars, thereby requiring users to smoke more to reach their desired effect. The study does not rule out the possibility that waterpipes could have other benefits, such as filtering out gases, but it suggests that other methods, such as the use of high potency marijuana, vaporizers, or oral ingestion are needed to avoid harmful toxins in marijuana smoke.

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Surprisingly, the unfiltered joint outperformed all devices except the vaporizers, with a ratio of about 1 part cannabinoids to 13 parts tar. This disturbingly poor ratio may be explained by the low potency of the NIDA-supplied marijuana used in the study, which was around 2.3%.

Disappointingly, waterpipes performed uniformly worse than the unfiltered joint. The least bad waterpipe, the bong, produced 30% more tar per cannabinoids than the unfiltered joint. Ironically, the pipe with the electric mixer scored by far the worst of any device. This suggests that water filtration is actually counterproductive, apparently because water tends to absorb THC more readily than noxious tars. Like the waterpipes, the cigarette filter also performed worse than the unfiltered joint, by about 30%. Researchers speculate this is because cannabinoids are exceptionally sticky and adhere to other solids. Hence, any filtration system that picks up particulates is likely also to screen out cannabinoids.

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And for those recreational users of vaporizers?

The vaporizer results appeared more promising, but confusing. The two vaporizers were the only devices to outscore unfiltered joints in terms of raw cannabinoid/tar ratio. The electric hotplate vaporizer did best, with a performance ratio about 25% higher than the unfiltered joint. The hot air gun was just marginally superior, but might have done better had it not been for its water filtration component.

However, the situation was complicated by the fact that the cannabinoids produced by the electric hotplate vaporizer were unusually high in CBN, leaving 30% less THC as a percentage of the total cannabinoids than with the other smoking devices. Since CBN is not psychoactive like THC, recreational users might be expected to consume more smoke to make up for the deficit. (The situation may be different for medical users, who could experience other, medicinal benefits from CBN). For this reason, it seemed advisable to recompute the performance efficiencies of the vaporizers in terms of THC, rather than all cannabinoids. When this was done, the electric hotplate vaporizer turned out to have a lower THC/tar ratio than the unfiltered joint, while the hot air gun was still marginally higher.

I don't understand how a vaporizer can even have a THC:Tar ratio. Tar is a by-product of combustion, in a proper vaporizer, there is no combustion.

Also heat plate vapes are a waste of money, and the only other vape they tested was a heat gun, which is a similar concept except they ran it through water filtration.

The fact that it out-performs a water bong, even after it has been put through the same filtration system as a water bong, means that if you took away the water filtration from both, leaving the water bong, an awkward pipe, and the vaporizer a normal vaporizer, it would out-perform a pipe.

It also said that the heat gun with water filtration out-performed the unfiltered joint as well, so taking out the water filtration it is safe to assume that vaporizing is the most economical method.

Also heat guns aren't the best for vaping, they are good, but a VB unit or one similar will produce even better results.

And finally, unlike the ashy gross remains of a joint/pipe/water bong, the left over weed from a vape can be collected and used to make hash, or hash oil.

I find it hard to belive that a vaporizer is worse for your health than a joint is.

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From what I read it was saying the opposite and it makes sense.

Plains.. I remember reading this before but you gotta go on personal experiences with something like this. Nothing can put you on your ass like a huge bong rip can with the same amount of weed. Though the water is absorbing some of the THC in a bong rip, you're getting way more smoke in that hit than you ever could from a joint, pipe because you'd be coughing before that point.

But then you also have to realize that the THC that is absorbed is absorbed within seconds of taking a hit.
So, taking a "huge hit" doesn't mean you are absorbing more...In fact, it has been suggested you are wasting more because your lungs can only absorb so much and then the rest is expelled with the smoke.

So in my opinion, all those folks that are taking huge hits and holding it instead of smaller hits are getting an effect of oxygen deprivation, not THC transfer.

But then you also have to realize that the THC that is absorbed is absorbed within seconds of taking a hit.
So, taking a "huge hit" doesn't mean you are absorbing more...In fact, it has been suggested you are wasting more because your lungs can only absorb so much and then the rest is expelled with the smoke.

So in my opinion, all those folks that are taking huge hits and holding it instead of smaller hits are getting an effect of oxygen deprivation, not THC transfer.

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Exactly so taking a larger hit will result in a larger THC content.

If ( and i know ive seen the study ) the THC is absorbed within the first second or two, when the smoke first even gets a glimpse of your lung its absorbing. As that smoke gets pushed farther down into your lungs new smoke comes in contact with even more THC for you to enjoy. That will all result in getting faded off your mind.

***Personal experience****

I cant tell you the last time i got high off a joint ( a blunt....ok ill give it a chance ) but i do remember i the last time i got faded off a bong...and that was today.